memory resided in the Void Which Binds, that love was the force which held people's souls. The Music of the Spheres was the 'song' of a planet, each person living on that planet adding to its symphony. The final stage, taking the First Step, was to Freecast: travelling between the stars without needing a Farcaster device. The TechnoCore had constructed vast machinery to accomplish what any individual could do with some training. References Simmons, Dan. Hyperion. Random House, 1990. Simmons, Dan. The Fall of Hyperion. Random House, 1991. Simmons, Dan. Endymion. Random House, 1996. Simmons, Dan. The Rise of Endymion. Random House, 1998. Broderick, Damien. Earth is but a star: excursions through science fiction to the far future. UWA Publishing, 2001. Westfahl, Gary. The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy, Vol. 3. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. Westfahl, Gary. Space and beyond: the frontier theme in science fiction. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000. Hartwell, David G. and Cramer, Kathryn. The Space Opera Renaissance. Macmillan, 2007. Langford, David. Up Through An Empty House of Stars. Wildside Press, 2003. Morse, Donald E. Anatomy of Science Fiction. Cambridge Scholars Press, 2006. Faster-than-light travel in fiction Hyperion Cantos